The United Nepal Communist Party and allied smaller communist parties, which had helped transform this Himalayan nation from an absolute monarchy to a democracy in 1990, led several strikes and street protests in 1993 in an effort to unseat the elected government.

The conflict between the communists, the largest opposition group in Parliament (82 of the 205 seats), and the Nepali Congress Party of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala began on May 16 with a road accident in which two prominent communists were killed. An official investigation blamed driver negligence for the deaths, but the communists insisted that the men had been killed by the government.

In June, July, and September, the communists led general strikes and protests in Kathmandu and two neighbouring towns. Police opened fire on protesters, and at least 12 people were killed. The events in 1993 were the first major street violence since the 1990 popular antimonarchy uprising, which forced King Birendra to surrender his absolute power.

On the international front, Nepal’s king and queen visited China in September. This was King Birendra’s seventh visit to China since ascending the throne in 1972. Beijing (Peking) remained Nepal’s biggest source of foreign aid, and in 1993 China helped Nepal build highways, industries, and hydroelectric power plants. Dilip Ganguly